Keyboard Suggestions (Blackwidow v G19?)

[Sorphius]

Title pretty much sums up my conundrum.

I'm going to have my wife get me a new keyboard for Christmas to replace my 5-year-old Lycosa and am looking for suggestions. I'd like something with macro keys (which the Lycosa is missing), but that's about my only requirement.

Unofficially I'm down to Razer's Black Widow Ultimate, or one of the Logitech G-series (either 15, 510, or 19).

Does anyone with experience with either one have any guidance or feedback?

Other suggestions?

[demonskies]

Corsair K90 Thats what I'd get. I have both the Black Widow and a G15 and Im oogling over getting a k90 once I have some "fun" money to spend.

[vesseblah]

LCD on the G15/G19/G510 is totally useless waste of money, wouldn't look into that way. I used to have G15 but didn't get another when it broke and opted for G110 instead. And I never use the LCD on G13 for anything either. Razer has got plenty of negative comments on build quality so wouldn't touch those either.

Corsair K90 is decent choice, also Logitech G710+

[obake1]

The G19 isn't mechanical and for it's price, I'd rather get a mechanical keyboard. The Blackwidow is mechanical and is actually pretty good. I had one for about half a year (Blackwidow Ultimate Stealth), but I gave it to my brother as I just got a new 10 keyless Ducky.

[noteworthynerd]

I agree with the consensus: neither one.

I recently bought a ZOWIE GEAR Celeritas and love it, but the availability on them isn't great. The Corsair K90 is a good choice. Cooler Master also make some great mechanical keyboards.

[Sorphius]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. After reading the feedback here and looking over specs/reviews, I've decided to go with the Corsair K90. I was put off by the aluminum chassis and blue LEDs (everything else I have is black/green), but I think it'll be a good fit for me.

Thanks!

[Deleted]

Logitech G19 is a glorified membrane keyboard with a (close to) useless LCD screen and the Razer BlackWidow is basically a sub-par mechanical keyboard when compared to the competition.

Other mentioned keyboards:

Corsair K90:
The initial price-premium of this keyboard is essentially gone and it can be found for around $90-100, which is not a bad price for such a robust keyboard. Few things to take note of though:
- Not all keys are mechanical. Esc, F1-12 and the delete, insert, etc keys are still membrane.
- It only comes with MX Red switches (which is fine if you prefer that switch).
- The G-keys look and feel like an afterthought. They are membrane, part of a plastic bezel that is added to the aluminium frame.

Logitech G110
A well-made and well-established membrane keyboard. It's biggest downside is that it is a membrane board for a somewhat premium price. I still find the Sidewinder X4 and X6 to be better choices.

Logitech G710+
Excellent board with a full-mechanical layout. It's downside is the design (not everyone wants orange details with grey highlights on some keys) and that it only comes with MX Brown switches. It still, due to it being fairly new, has a slight price premium attached to it.


My other suggestions would be:
- CM Storm QuickFire TK or QuickFire Rapid
- Any Filco board
- Any Ducky board (Ducky gives you a huge amount of choice and is afaik the only manufacturer offering keyboards with multiple different switches for different keys).
- Any Das Keyboard board
- Qpad MK-series